Loading apparatus



J. T. FE'THERSTON.

LOADING APPARATUS.

APPLICATIQN FILED *ocT. 17. xs''s.

1,333, 1 65 Patented Mar. 9,y 1920.

n," 'l WI" Unrrnn s'rn'rns eenv JOHN T. FETHERSTON, Oil NEW YORK, N. Y.

LOADING APPARATUS.

maaien.

Specification of Letters Itateat.

Application filed October 17, 1919. Serial No. 331,359.

- provenient-s in Loading Apparatus; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXaetdesc-ription ot they inveution,` such as will enable others-skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine.

This invention relates io mechanical loading apparatus particularly adapted for handling` material ot light weight or composed o'l` loose particles, which. because of these charaeteristies does not otter suli- 'cient resistance to the movement of a meehanical shovel, scoop, or bucket to permit positive filling thereof by movement through the material. The, invention. while oapable ot employment in handling` a wide variety ol'yiuaterials, is especially advantag'eousnin they removal olt snow and ice from city streets. the suon' and ice being thereby. readily li'l'ted and deposited iu sullable vehicles for removal.

'llhe invention involves the provision ol' a loading apparatus. ot the movable shovel. scoop or bucket type, ha ving combined therewith albarrier adapted to be moved into thel material to be loaded and to serve as a wall l'or obstructino the movement ol the material as the shovel. scoop orbueltet is moved into it. thereby positively insuring that the movement of the bucliet will cause it to be lled with the material.

A form o'l loadingapparatus which has 'been extensively used heretofore is that designated as a bucket skimmer excavator consisting ol a movable platform. a boom pivotally mounted thereon and tnojeetiug therefrom, bucket depending from and movable upon the boom and mechanism mounted ou the platform for propellingthe entire apparatus. tor -movinel the bucket along upon the boom to gather the, material to be loaded and 'for turning' the boom about its pivot to raise the filled bucket to the dumping position. A skimmer excavator ot the character described is conu'nonly employed in loading earth, loose rock or sand on trucks under conditions where the earth, loose rock or sand is to be taken oli down to a given level.

Such an exeavating and loading appa ratus, though well adapted for use in excavating and loading earth, loose roch or sand, is not suitable for use iu picking up snow and ice from city streets and loading .it upon trucks. This is due prhnarilv to the 'Fact that it the boeket is moved along' hori- `zontally over the surface ot a paved street to pick up and become filled with snow and ice, snow and ice is pushed along in front of the bucket and the latter is not filled. n'lechanisin a barrier-to obstruct the ino've ment of the snow ando ice in 'front ofthe bucket. this torno ot loading apparatus is well adapted for handling snow and ice. the bucket and the space betv n the bucket and the barrier being filled with snow as a re- Isalt of each movement along the boom toward the barrier. The barrier preterablii constructed in the torni of a hood hav'iingifront and sidewalls and is mounted upon the boom near the outer end thereof; preli- 'erably the hood is pivotally mounted upon the end ot the boom and provision is made whereby it may be moved to and held in any one of a plurality of did'ereut positions of adjustment about a horizontal axis., either by a locking vdevice yas illustrated in the drawing or by meehfmieal control ot the operator in the Cabot the machine."

My invention outlined above may be more vtally understood by reference 'to the aecompanyinp; drawings, which illustrate one iforin in which the invention nia-y bodied, though it will be Vundersto'od that the invention may be en'iployed in excavating apparatus varying over a wide. range 'in the construction ot its operating` parts.

ln the drawings. `Figure l is an elevation oit th(` complete loading; apparatus: Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a section onlline 3---8 ot Fin: Q; and Fig'. 1- is a detail view of the end ot the barrier hood.

ln the drawings. the loading;` apparatus is shown as. consistingl of a platform 5 mounted upon endless uuiltiple belts G. and an engine 7 mounted on the platform 5 and connected to the belts G through suitable gearing whereby the engine 7 may be operated to propel the entire loading apparatus,

By con'ibining with such a, loaeingr lilo' llt) move upon the boom throughout practically the entire length thereof. This truck 1() carries or forms' art of a bucket 11, the body of the bucket Ibeing pivoted to the truck 10 at 12. A cable 13 is connected to the truck 10 as hereinafter described and passes over a pulley 14 rotatably mounted upon the outer end of the boom 8; the cable 13 then passes backwardly to a drum 15 mounted on the platform 5 and connected to the engine 7 through suitable gearing so that the engine may be operated to move the bucket 11 upon the boom 8 from the vposition shown in full lines in Fig. 1 to the position shown 1n dotted lines. A yoke 25 to which the cable 13 is connected carries .two rods 26 supported in suitable guides on the truck 10, and connected by a yoke 27. Springs 28 surround the rods and bear against a shoulder 29 on the truck. Latches 3() are secured to the rods 26 and are adapted to engage shoulders 31 on the bucket 11 to hold the latter in closed position as indicated in Fig. 3. The path through which the bucket moves is governed by the angular position of the boom 8, so that damage to the surface of the street is prevented. To permit of regulating this as desired, the boom is provided with a superstructure 16 to which the end of a cable 17 is secured; this cable 17 passes over one or more pulleys and its end is carried down to one of the winding drums 18 geared to the engine 7. By the operation of this drum by the engine, the boom 8 may be moved to any desired angular position.

Near the outer' end of the boom 8, a sup' port 19 is secured to the boom; this support :as bearings formed therein for a shaft 2() and the ends of .this shaft pass through the side walls of a barrier 21 in the form of a hood having front and side walls as shown. The front wall of the hood is preferably provided With vertically arranged strips 22 which stiffen the metal of this wall and which have their ends extended and sharpened, either directly or by means of removable spikes 22 which may be pointed or blunt, as indicated in. Fig. 4. The hood 21 may be rigidly mounted upon the ond of the boom 8 in which ease its vertical position will be governed wholly by the position of the boom: if desired. however, the hood may be pivotally mounted upon the boom so that its forward edge will be capable of adjustment independent of the.boom. For this purpose, I have shown in one form arms 23 projecting from the end of the boom at op posite sides thereof and provided with aperturesr in their ends. Also. the side walls of the hood 21 are provided with a series of apertures arranged in the are of a circle about the axis of the shaft 20. A rod 24 may he inserted through any pair of alined open-A ings in the side walls of the hood and the openmgs in the ends of the arms 23 to supedge will move along parallel and close i to the roadway which is to be cleared of snow. When the boom is lowered into this horizontal position the edge of the hood cuts into and passes down through the snow so that it lies upon or close to the vsurface of the roadway. Then `the engine is operated to drive the drum 15 and wind upon the cable 13 thereby moving the bucket along upon the b-oom from the' full line to a filial position indicated by the dotted line postions shown in Fig. 1. During this movement the hood `21 serves as a barrier to prevent the snow and ice from belng pushed along in front and upon opposite sides of the bucket. This obstruction of movement of the snow or ice 'results in the'bucket and the space between the bucket and the hood being filled with snow or ice by the time it reaches the end of its movement toward the final position on the boom. The enginedriven winding mechanism is then operated to wind up upon the cables 17 and thereby turn the boom about its pivotal connection to the platform so as to raise the outer end of the boom and the bucket and barrier carried thereby. When the bucket and height the platform 5 is swung about the axis of its pivotal mounting upon its supporting truck to carry the bucket and barrier over the cart or truck into which the snow and ice is to be loaded. Thereupon the tension on the cable 13 is released'permitting the springs 28 to carry the rods 26 and latches 30 rearwardly thereby releasing the bucket which turns about its pivotal axis as indicated 'in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The load is thus discharged into the underlying vehicle;

Among the advantages of the apparatus is the4 compression of the snow or ice by the movement of the shovel, scoop or bucket against the barrier. As will be readily appreciated, snow is easilv compressed into a much smaller volume thanit normally occupies, thus increasing the capacity of the apparatus. The compression of the snow or ice also insures lifting of material occupying the space between the shovel, scoop or bucket barrier have Abeen raised to the proper and the barrier permitting a. further increase in capacity.

Another function and advantage of the i on an icy street. The imparable Without anchorage would be moved baekvnnjdly as the shovel, scoop or bucket progressed. The

barrier when disposed in a pile of snow acts4 as an anchor and prevents movement ot the apparatus.

Various changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the parts without departing 'from the spirit of the invention and -it is to be understoodthat the word bucket combination of a platform and support mounted thereon and projecting therein-omi. a bucket mounted on the support, means for moving the bucket on the support and a harrier mounted on the support for obstructing movement of the material to be loaded the bucket is moved to gather it.

3. A loading apparatus comprising,` the combination of a platform,A a boom. pivotallv mounted thereon ,andV projecting therefrom, a bucket mounted on the boom, engine-driven mechanism mounted 'on .the platform 'for moving the bucket on the boom andfo'r moving the boom about its pivot and a barrier mounted on the boom for obstructing movement of the material to be loaded as the bucket is-moved to gather it.

4f. A loadingv apparatus comprising trie combination of a platform, boom pivotally mounted thereon and projecting therefrom` a bucket movable upon the boom toward and away from the platform, means for discharging the bucket, and a barrier mounted on the outer end of the boom.

5. A loading apparatus comprising the combination of a platform, a boom pivotally mounted thereon and projecting therefrom. a'bucket mounted on the boom for movement lengthwise thereon, an engine driven niechanism on the platform 'for movingthe bucket and for turning the ho'om about its pivot, and ahood having end and side wallsl mounted on the boom neai the outer end thereof and operating toobstructmovement of the material to be loaded b v the bucket.

6. A loadingapparatus conn'irising the combination of aplatfornl, a boom pivoted thereon and projecting' therefrom, a bucket movable on the boom7 engine-driven mechanism on the platform for moving the bucketupon the boom and for turning the boom about its pivot., a hood pivotally mounted upon the` boom near the outer end thereof and constituting a barrier, and

means for supporting the hood in various positions of adjustment about its pivotalr connection to the boom.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature, 

